


The Other Camp

by Chokingonholywater



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Coraline AU, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, no relationships - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-15
Updated: 2017-08-17
Packaged: 2018-12-15 15:43:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11809086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chokingonholywater/pseuds/Chokingonholywater
Summary: "There's a place I know that's tucked away..."When Max shows up at Camp Campbell, he's expecting it to be just like everywhere else: no one will listen to him, people will yell at him all day, and he won't be able to do anything fun. An odd gift and an old shed in the woods make all of that change, and Max falls headfirst into the perfect world - but at what cost?





	1. Welcome to Camp Campbell

**Author's Note:**

> Original AU by @boodles-art on tumblr. Enjoy!

Max sighed as his parents drove away, their blue car bumping down the dirt path. He still couldn't believe they'd really done it - shipped him off to spend his whole summer at some lame _camp_. They'd warned him that they would have to do something if he didn't stop misbehaving in class, but he hadn't thought they meant two months of nature hikes and campfire songs surrounded by a bunch of equally abandoned kids. 

Max watched the car until it turned the bend, disappearing into the trees. Grumbling, he turned away from the road and glared at the sign in front of him. It had seen better days; it was a simple wooden sign with yellow and green letters that read, "Welcome to Camp Camp". Max could faintly see the place where the letters "bell" had once been attached, spelling the full name of the place where he was to spend his summer: Camp Campbell. 

Suddenly, Max realized he was alone. He looked around, searching for anyone who could lead him to the camp. 

 "Where the hell is everyone?" he yelled. He spun around, glaring, but saw no one. "Whatever," he mumbled, hoisting his messenger bag up on his shoulder. After a quick glance behind him, Max started off down the path towards Camp Campbell.

 As he walked, he could hear rustling in the trees around him. _It could have been the wind - it was probably just the wind_ , he reasoned with himself. Even as he thought it, Max still felt uneasy, as though someone was watching him from the trees. Picking up his pace, he gripped the strap of his bag tighter.

After a few more minutes of nervous walking, Max could see what must have been Camp Campbell in the distance. He hurried towards the wooden buildings, having spent more than enough time alone in the forest.

As he arrived among the cabin-style buildings, Max's anger at being left to walk by himself to camp returned. Spinning around, he quickly spotted a building with a sign reading "Counselors Only - THIS MEANS YOU NEIL!". Max marched towards it, his mouth set into a deep frown. 

"I can't fucking believe I had to walk here myself, what kind of camp is this?" he grumbled, walking up the steps toward the door. Still complaining, he knocked once, twice, three times on the door. 

He crossed his arms over his chest and waiting but - nothing happened. Just as he went to go pound on the door again, he heard a voice yelling angrily from inside.

A girl wearing a green t-shirt bearing the Camp Campbell logo opened the door, looking annoyed. "I swear to god David, it's your fucking turn to watch the campers! If you think - oh," she said, looking down to see Max. He blinked up at her as she gave a deep sigh.

"Right," she muttered, checking the clock behind her. "The six o'clock drop-off, fucking fantastic." She glared at Max for a moment, then gave him a bright smile. 

"Welcome to Camp Campbell! You must be Max!" she said, her voice filled to the brim with fake excitement. "We're so glad to have you! I'm Gwen, one of the counselors here!" 

Before she could continue, Max held up a hand, stopping her. "Drop the act," he said. "Just tell me where the hell my cabin is. I've been dragging this bag around the whole way here."

Gwen's smile immediately vanished and was replaced by a scowl. "Fucking David!" she exclaimed, stepping out beside Max and slamming the door closed behind her. "He was supposed to come get you," she explained, eying Max as she led him away from the counselor's building. "Whatever. You made it here, so who cares?" she said, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

As they walked, Gwen gestured towards various camp features: the flagpole, the Mess Hall, the lake. There was a small pier extending from the shore into the water and a few boats resting on the sand. In the distance, Max could see the faint outline of what looked like an island in the middle of the lake.

When he asked Gwen about it, she just brushed him off. "Sometimes we go there for group activities like bird watching," she said, "but not often. It's just a gross old shed and some caves out there. And don't even _think_  about going out there on your own," she said, turning to Max with a sharp look. "Some kid got lost out there before I started working here - never saw him again."

Max shuddered, glancing over his shoulder at the foggy silhouette of the island as it slipped out of view. "That's pretty fucked up," he said, glancing at Gwen. She gave him a disapproving look, but said nothing.

The pair walked up a short hill and emerged a clearing, where they were suddenly surrounded by a circle of tents. Consulting her clipboard, Gwen led Max over to a tent on the other side of the circle. "Here it is," she stated, gesturing to the canvas tent. "Home sweet home." Max gave her an incredulous look. "Tents? Are you fucking kidding me?" he said, glaring. Gwen just gave an eye roll and continued. 

"You'll be sharing, but your bunk mate isn't here right now. Throw you stuff in there," she said, pulling open the tent, "and then we can get you into some activities."

Grumbling, Max ducked into the tent and looked around. 

Inside the tent were two cots, a small nightstand, a lantern, a mirror, and a rug. One side of the tent was barren, while the other was covered with blueprints and photographs, as well as some kind of lab equipment composed of a variety of tubes and wires. With a shrug, Max threw his bags down on the bed and turned to leave. Thinking better of it, he dumped the contents of his messenger bag on the bed and grabbed a few things to stuff back in - his trusty Swiss army knife, a pad of paper, and a pencil. His parents had bought the Swiss Army knife special for kids - it was really just a collection of tools, no knife involved. Still, it made Max feel more prepared for whatever was next. 

He ducked out of the tent and looked expectantly at Gwen. "What now?" he asked, pulling his bag over his shoulder. 

"It's actually free activity time now," Gwen answered. "And frankly, I don't feel like giving you the welcome lecture, so you're free to go," she added. "Have fun, don't die, campe diem or whatever," she muttered, turning away.

Max watched her retreating back in disbelief. "What kind of fucking camp is this?" he said, walking away from the tent. He considered what he should do next - he could probably go meet some of his fellow campers in the Mess Hall or around the activity area, but suddenly Max had a better idea.

Turning towards the lake, Max grinned. He'd noticed a few boats on the shore, and after all, his parents had sent him there for misbehaving hadn't they? It was only right that he live up to their expectations. 

Flipping over one of the old canoes, Max grabbed one of the paddles and jumped in as he pushed away from shore. He'd gone canoeing a few times before with his parents, and the lake was smooth as he slowly made his way into the mist. It didn't take long for him to fall into the steady rhythm of paddling, and after a short time, he lurched forward as the boat hit the shore of the island. 

Max hopped out of the canoe and dragged it onto shore, struggling to heave the boat up out of the water. He tossed the paddle down next to it once it was safely on shore and brushed his hands off on his shorts, surveying the land around him. It was even more gray and cloudy on the island than it had been back at the camp, and a damp chill settled over Max's body as he stepped away from the canoe. He was glad he was wearing his hoodie; his parents had tried to get him to leave it behind, but he never went anywhere without it. 

Max decided to search for the old shed that Gwen had mentioned. Stepping into the trees, he realized that he had no idea where to start.  As he scanned the wooded area around him, he saw what might have been a path once. Though it was now overgrown with wild plants, Max could still make it out. "Jackpot," he said, grinning to himself.

Max began to follow the path deeper into the woods, each step being careful to avoid getting caught in any of the vines curling along the ground. He began to feel a prickle of unease, but he chalked it up to the creepy atmosphere - the fog and the forest didn't exactly scream "welcome!". He trudged on through the woods, and after a few minutes, he suddenly came to a small clearing.

"Woah," he exclaimed, his eyes widening. "This isn't exactly what I'd call a shed, Gwen." 

In fact, it was more of a mansion, albeit a dilapidated one. The large house was surrounded by what must have once been a beautiful garden, now overtaken by the wildness of the forest. 

Max walked up the stone path towards the front steps. He peered in one of the dusty windows, but it was too dark to see much inside. Turning away from the window, Max pushed open the front doors. They gave a loud _creeeeeeeeeeeeak_  as he did, and a puff of dust made Max cough. He stepped inside and looked around; the room was decorated with two stuffed bears, a fireplace, and lots of dust and cobwebs.

Max took a few more steps inside when suddenly, the feeling of being watched came back in a crushing wave. He spun around and saw movement out of the corner of his eye - what was that? He knew it was probably nothing, but his heart started to pound. 

 "Hello?" he called out. "Who's there?" Max inched towards the fireplace as his own voice echoed back to him in reply. With his eyes glued towards the top of the stairs where he'd thought he'd seen something move, Max's hand scrambled behind him for something to throw. He grimaced as he pushed through the spiderwebs coating the fireplace, but eventually close his fist around a small wooden carving of a tree. He grinned triumphantly before realizing he'd looked away and - _there_. He'd seen it again, something moving just out of sight above him on the landing. Without hesitation, Max pulled his arm back and whipped the wooden bauble towards the movement.

 A loud yowl suddenly echoed through the room, startling Max. He turned and ran for the door as it grew louder, slamming it behind him as he stepped into the sunshine. He leaned against the wooden doors, panting, but he could still hear the angry mewling coming from inside. There were scratching sounds against the door, and Max bolted away from the house, not caring where he went from there.

 Trees whipped his face and arms as he ducked into the woods, sprinting away from whatever was in that old house. He ran until he was out of breath, cursing himself for being afraid. "What did you think it was?" he panted, slowing down. "What a baby," he said to himself. 

 As he stopped to catch his breath, Max looked around. He was in the middle of the woods, alone, with no idea where he was, Max realized. For a moment he panicked - what if he got lost like that kid Gwen had mentioned and never made it back? But no, he wouldn't let that happen. With a determined look, Max chose a direction at random and marched off, knowing he would have to reach the shore eventually and he could nibigate from there.

The adrenaline of the mansion incident was fading, and the same paranoia Max had felt in the woods on the way into camp was slowly returning. He looked around, but there was no one there. Turning back to face forward, he hunched his shoulders - and then whipped back around. He'd seen someone, or some _thing_  just now, he was sure of it, but there was nothing there. Still, Max was bothered by the rustling in the trees behind him. 

The unease was too much, and Max started to run through the trees again. Branches hit his arms and legs, but he could hear something behind him, and it propelled him forwards.

Suddenly, he lost his balance, his shoe tangled in a vine growing along the forest floor. He fell to the ground with a quiet _oof_ , then whipped around in terror to look behind him.

A figure in black was coming up fast, their face distorted by a mask. Max couldn't help but let out a frustrated scream as they drew closer, unable to free his foot from the vines. The stranger came closer, closer, closer - and then stopped right in front of Max. Max could see the mask more clearly now - it was black with some sort of crank on the side and what looked like various lenses where the eye holes would be. A hand reached up and turned the crank, spinning the wheel of lenses. As the person inspected Max, all terror began to be replaced by spite, and Max flipped off whoever was wearing the mask. 

Suddenly, the person flipped up the mask revealing a pale face. The boy underneath the mask was smiling as he bent down to free Max's foot from it's green prison. Helping Max to his feet, the boy said, "You must be Max." Upon seeing Max's startled look, he added, "I saw it on Gwen's clipboard. Max, huh? It's an ordinary name, made me expect pretty ordinary things." 

 Max flipped him off again.

 The boy laughed. "Maybe I was wrong. I'm Neil," he said, extending a hand. Max glared at it, but then noticed something by Neil's feet. 

 "Oh, and is that your cat? Was that what was in that fucking house?" Max demanded, pointing at the cat rubbing up against Neil's leg. "That thing screamed so loud at me I thought I was about to be mauled," he added darkly. 

Neil looked uncomfortable, but he leaned down and grabbed the cat. "Nikki's not mine, exactly, she's kinda feral, y'know? Wild," he said, stroking the cat's fur. It had begun to purr in his arms, and Max rolled his eyes. "Yeah, looks real feral to me. Listen, I don't like being fucking stalked by psycho-nerds, or their wuss puss cats," Max said, "so what the hell are you doing out here?"

Neil just shrugged. "I'm a man of science. I explore, I learn, it's what I do."

Max muttered something under his breath. "Fine, whatever," he exclaimed. He glared at Neil. "I was looking for the caves - Gwen told me about them. Know 'em?"

Neil nodded. "Good thing you didn't run too much father," he said, setting down the cat, "or you'd've fallen right in." In response to Max's questioning look, he kneeled down and pulled back a patch of brush just ahead of where Max had fallen. Below was a vast nothing, a pitch black void. Max kneeled next to Neil, staring down into the hole. 

Neil grabbed a nearby pebble and dropped it delicately into the cave entrance. He and Max listened and waited for it to hit the bottom. Finally, they heard a distant splash.

Neil turned to Max. "They say it's so deep that if you fall to the bottom, you'll see a sky full of stars in the middle of the day. Of course, _I_ don't believe that," he sniffed, "being a man of science and all."

"Whatever," Max grumbled. "I don't wanna know what you were doing out here, but I don't feel like playlist scientist with some mask faced creep," he said, his voice laced with venom. He turned on his heel and started walking away, leaving Neil with a confused frown. Looking over his shoulder, Max yelled out to him. "See ya around," he said, walking away from the cave entrance. 

Making his way back though the forest, Max was careful to watch his step, testing each footfall gently to be sure it wasn't another cave entrance. He passed the mansion and angrily kicked a pinecone at it, muttering about Neil and his stupid cat, Nikki. 

"Feral my ass! What a fucking awful name for a cat, anyways," Max said. He followed the path around the mansion and up to the front, eventually finding the same path he'd used to navigate the woods in the first place. Careful not to get his feet caught in any more vines, Max made his way back to shore. The boat was exactly where he'd left it, and with some effort, he flipped it back over and shoved it into the water.

 The sky was significantly darker by the time Max got back to camp. He hopped out of the canoe and pushed it back to where he'd found it, carefully laying everything just so. Not that it mattered if he got caught - what would they do, send him home? - but he still found he'd rather not get yelled at on his first day. 

All the excitement of his arrival and the island had made him pretty tired, so Max trudged back towards the circle of tents to go to bed early. Besides, he didn't much feel like meeting the other campers or counselors, so sleep was sounding pretty good.

As he walked over to his tent, he remembered that Gwen had said he would be sharing a tent. The thought made him groan. "Can't there just be one thing about this camp that doesn't fucking suck?" Max mumbled. He hoped whoever his tentmate  was wasn't in their tent, and that he would be sound asleep before they got back. He was about the pull open the flaps and crawl into the tent when he felt his shoe hit something on the ground. "Hang on, what the fuck is that?" Max said, bending down to pick it up. 

It was some kind of parcel wrapped im paper. There was a note folded on top, but Max couldn't read it in the dark. He ducked into the tent and flicked on the lantern. Flopping down onto his bed, he unfolded the note. It read, 

 

 

> _"Max_

> _Found this in the woods earlier and couldn't believe how much it looked like you. Figured you might want it._

> _\- Neil"_

Max rolled his eyes. "Ugh, that fucking weirdo knows where my tent is, terrific," he grumbled. 

 He dropped the note to the side and began to unroll the paper wrapping on the parcel. As he reached the end, a doll fell onto the ground in front of him. "What the fuck does he think I'd want with this?" Max said, snatching the doll off of the ground. "What a frea—"

Max stopped, staring at the doll. "Okay," he deadpanned, "this is just fucking creepy."

The doll had light brown skin, dark curly hair, and bright green button eyes. Max poked one of the buttons, frowning at how similar the color was to his own eyes. "Jesus fucking—" Max said, noticing the doll's outfit. It was wearing a blue hoodie over a yellow t-shirt. Max looked down at his own hoodie and shirt - the colors and designs were nearly identical.

Max stood up at went to look in the mirror, holding to the doll out to the side. "Alright, seriously," he exclaimed, "what the fuck? What is this, some kind of little me?"

Max scrutinized his reflection and compared it to the doll, but it was all the same: same unruly hair, same blue hoodie, same dark jeans, same red and white sneakers. The only difference was those glistening button eyes. 

Max pulled the doll towards him to look at it closer as he sat back down on the bed. He shook his head as he kicked off his shoes, tucked them under the cot. All the while he held the doll close to his face, turning it this way and that, examining all of its uncanny similarities. 

Eventually, when he had looked over every stitch and thread, Max propped the doll up against the edge of the nightstand. "What a weird fucking kid. Wonder if Neil really has been stalking me," he muttered to himself. 

Max crawled under the covers, staring at the doll. "A fucking little me," he repeated in disbelief, leaning over to turn off the lantern. "How crazy."

After clicking the light off, he pulled the blankets up around him and tried to get comfortable on the cot. The shock of the doll had woken him up a bit, but the fatigue of the day was setting in, and Max couldn't wait to go to sleep. Even as tired as he was, he couldn't seem to fall asleep. He tossed and turned in the dark for a few minutes, bothered by the appearance of the doll. 

Eventually, he decided that it was probably the coolest thing that would happen to him all summer, and that he should just roll with it. Satisfied by this new philosophy, he curled up on his side to sleep. The sound of his deep breathing filled the tent as he slept, the only sound in the silent night. All the while, little Max watched silently from the ground through his little button eyes. 


	2. The Shed in the Woods

Max blinked at the sunlight flooding the tent, rubbing his eyes. He wondered what time it was as he pushed back the covers and got out of bed. He noticed that the other cot was still empty, but it had definitely been slept in - his tent mate must have gone to breakfast.

Max stretched his arms and pulled his hoodie back on over his clothes. He itched his palms as he stretched; they were an irritated, bright rash red. Max figured he'd fallen into some poison ivy on the island yesterday. 

Suddenly, he remembered the weird doll he'd gotten last night, and he stooped to pick it up while fixing his hair in the mirror. His hand brushed the floor of the tent, right by the night stand, but there was nothing there.

"What the hell?" Max said, standing up. "I know that's where I put the little creepy thing last night..."

He turned to look around the tent, spotting the bright green of the button eyes. The doll was tipped on its side, one arm pointing to the flap of the tent and the other lying limp across its body. Max's eyebrows drew together - he certainly hadn't left the doll there last night. With a shrug, he picked up the doll, reasoning that whoever he shared the tent with must have moved it.

He wanted to go ask Neil about the doll, so he shoved it into his pocket as he stuffed his feet into his shoes. He couldn't get over how creepy it was, even if it was a little bit exciting.

Max dipped out of the tent and into the sunshine, his shoes slipping on the dewy grass. He squinted around, but it seemed like everyone was either still asleep or at breakfast, and - as usual - there were no counselors to be seen.

Max rolled his eyes and began to walk towards the Mess Hall. "Some camp this is, who the fuck is actually in charge?" he grumbled, hunching his shoulders. "You'd think I'm the only fucking camper here, or just that no one gives a shit. At least Gwen showed me where the Mess Hall is," he said, approaching the building.

It was, like every other building at Camp Campbell, a log cabin. Max could hear yelling from inside, but whether it was angry or happy, camper or counselor, he didn't know. With a deep breath, he pushed open then door.

Max's eyes widened marginally as he observed the chaos in front of him. _Clearly,_ he thought, _I'm not the only camper here for bad behavior._

Some kid wearing a badly made space suit and fish bowl on his head was taped to the ceiling fan, spinning rapidly above the tables. Gwen was screaming at him to get down while other kids, who looked about Max's age, cheered. Suddenly, the tape gave way, and the kid came crashing down with a scream.

"Alright everyone!" Gwen yelled. "That's fucking enough! Sit back down at those tables right now! And no more screaming or _so help me god,_ none of you will be doing anything but chores for a week," she added, looking murderously at the campers. They all shuffled to various tables around the room, returning to plates of pancakes and bowls of oatmeal that had been left abandoned in the excitement of flight.

Max eyed all the tables wearily as the kids settled back in. The the only person who hadn't gotten up at all was Neil, who sat with a bowl of cereal in front of him. Max walked over to the table and slammed the doll down in front of Neil, making him jump.

"So," Max said. "What exactly the fuck is this?"

Neil scoffed. "It's a doll I found in the woods. Can't you read?" Just as Max was about to share some choice words, Neil added, "By the way - you snore a little bit."

Max stopped, confused, and then became annoyed. "You've _got_  to be kidding me. You're my fucking tent mate? Should've guessed from all the weirdo science shit all over the tent," Max said, glaring.

Neil glared back. "Look," he said, "we can hate each other all summer if you want, but you've seen the other campers. They're crazy - not to mention annoying. Let's call it a truce and start over, huh?" He extended a hand to Max, and this time, Max took it.

"Fine. So who the hell is everyone else here?" Max asked, gesturing around the room.

"That's Nerris," Neil said, pointing over Max's shoulder to a girl in a wizard's hat and cape. "Over there is Harrison and Dolph, and next to them is Ered and Nerf." He gestured to a table where a boy in a magician's outfit, a blond haired girl, a little black haired boy, and a red haired kid sat. "Word to the wise," Neil added, "Nerf's an ass. He'll punch anything that moves, and some things that don't, too." Neil rubbed his elbow as if recalling past injury, and Max nodded. "Oh, and then there's Preston," he gestured to a boy wearing a Shakespearean costume, "and Space Kid - you can probably guess which one is him," Neil said, jutting his chin out towards the kid on the floor.

Max nodded again, taking in all the new names and faces. "Who's Mr. Sunshine over there?" Max asked, pointing to a lanky figure wearing a camp shirt.

"Oh, that's David," Neil answered. "He's the other counselor. Y'know, he seems like he loves it here, but all that smiling doesn't make up for the fact that he's just as apathetic as Gwen," he said, frowning. "We're on our own for the most part," Neil continued, "except for group activities, meals, and campfires."

Max nodded, staring at David. As he turned, max saw that he had a yellow eyepatch across his eye, the same color as the banadana he wore around his neck. Just as Max was about to ask about it, Neil groaned. 

"Don't look now, but David's coming this way," Neil said, looking over Max's shoulder.

Max turned, and there was David, standing over him with a bright grin. "Hey there! You just be Max! I'm so excited to finally meet you," he exclaimed, stooping down to be on eye level with Max. "I'm David, your co-counselor! You've already met the other counselor, Gwen - isn't she the greatest?"

Max stared at David's eyepatch, starting to make a sarcastic comment, but David plowed on. "Now, she told me that you seemed interested in Lake Lilac and the old island out there," he said, his grin dropping slightly. Max eyed Neil, who looked nervous. "Well, Max, I'm sure you were just excited to explore the camp, but we noticed that you were gone yesterday, and so was one of our canoes!" He smiled brightly again as Max glared. "We can't have you getting into trouble, so you're gonna stay with me and Gwen today! Or at least Gwen," he added, frowning slightly, "I forgot that I'm in charge of group activity this morning."

The frown was gone as soon as it appeared, and David's 1000 watt smile replaced it. "Anyways, I'm sure we'll be spending some quality time together soon enough! Have a good breakfast Max, and remember, campe diem!"

Max stared at him as he walked away, then turned to Neil. The other boy breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I thought for sure I was gonna get busted. Sucks that you have to spend the day with the Gwen though." Max shrugged - it was nothing he couldn't get out of, if he wanted to. Still, it might prove an interesting opportunity to learn more about the camp.

"It's whatever. Is he always like that?" Max asked, raising an eyebrow at Neil. At Neil's questioning look, Max clarified his question. "So fucking happy! Just smiling like a creep and talking over you, like he doesn't give a shit what you have to say," he spluttered.

"Oh," Neil said. "Yeah, that's what I meant before. David seems happy - _really_  happy - but he doesn't actually care any more than Gwen. Speaking of," he added sliding off of the bench, "have fun with whatever she makes you do. Gonna go see if I can make some synthetic glucose - see ya later!"

He waved as he ran out of the Mess Hall. The other campers were leaving as well, and Max got up too, thinking he might be able to slip away.

Just as he was about the push the door open to leave, he was picked up by the back of his hoodie. "Not so fast, kid," Gwen said, spinning him around to face her. 

"Put me the fuck down!" Max yelled, staring daggers at her.

"Fine," she shrugged, letting him tumble to the floor. "But you're not going anywhere. Thanks to your little island adventure stunt, I'm stuck watching _you_  all day, so here's what's gonna happen: you're gonna stay in here quietly, and I'm gonna sit here with you," she sat down at one of the tables and propped her feet up, "reading this magazine," she added, pulling out some cliche copy. "And if you cause any trouble at all, you can bet I'll keep you here all fucking day. But if you stay quiet, you can get out of here by lunch, got it?" She cocked an eyebrow at him.

Max scowled, but nodded nonetheless. Gwen gave him a sardonic smile and flipped open her magazine.

Max sat back down at the table, propping his head up with his hand. _God,_ he thought to himself, _this is so fucking boring._ The clock ticked on the wall, and Max counted every second. It seemed like time had slowed to a crawl, and he couldn't do anything but wait.

He got up from the table cautiously, but Gwen didn't respond. He wasn't dumb enough to try to leave again - after all, he _did_  want to be free by lunch - but maybe he could at least stretch his legs.

He ambled around the tables, sitting here and there, always checking the clock. Max toyed with the doll in his front pocket, curling its dark hair around his finger and then back the other way. He laid down on the bench and hung upside down until all the blood rushed to his head, but he was still _so_  bored.

He got off the bench, slightly dizzy, and walked over to the window. He leaned up against it, looking out onto the trees and bright blue sky. After staring outside for a few minutes, he couldn't take the silence any longer.

"You know," Max started, still looking out the window, "I almost fell into a cave yesterday."

He turned imperceptibly to look at Gwen, who gave a slight noise of disinterest but did nothing more. Frustrated, Max turned back to the window. He itched his palm, examining the scrapes on his hands from falling on the island.

"I could've died," he added.

Gwen didn't even look up from her magazine. "That's nice, Max."

Max whipped around, glaring. "Don't you give a shit? At all?" he said. Gwen looked up at him as he crossed his arms, returning his glare. "You know what? Fine! Whatever!" she said, almost yelling. "Go do whatever the hell you want. I don't wanna watch you anymore," she grumbled, slapping her magazine shut and stomping towards the door. As she stepped out into the sunshine, she threw one last angry look over her shoulder and said, "Go tell David that if he wants you babysat, he should do it himself!" before slamming the door closed.

Max stared after her, slightly startled by her the response, but mostly just glad that he was free to go. He followed her path out the door and into the sunshine, then stopped. He didn't know what he wanted to do - going back to the island this soon was a dumb choice, and he didn't feel like sitting in the tent. Max decided to head to the activity area and see if the group activity was still going on.

Max walked up to the clearing just in time to hear David say, "Alright, kids! That's it for the morning activity today, see you at lunch and campe diem!" He say the kids start to disperse and considered going to talk to Neil, but decided to go deliver Gwen's message to David.

He walked up behind the man and tapped his back. "Hey, David," Max said as David turned. "Gwen told me to tell yo—"

David interrupted him with a smile. "Why hello there Max! Did you have fun with Gwen this morning! I'm sure you did! I was just going to work on some paperwork here," he gestured to the clipboard on the picnic table next to them, "but if you needed something, go ahead and ask!"

His tone was still positive, but Max could hear David's annoyance at being kept from his work. Max just shook his head. "Nevermind. It was nothing," he said, but David had already turned and sat down at the table.

Max sat down on the other end of the bench, staring at David. He couldn't quite believe that anyone could possibly act so happy all the time. Max started to tap his fingers on the table, thinking about everything that had happened so far at camp.

The weird doll, of course, was the most interesting part - just thinking about it made Max's fingers speed up in their tapping. Where did it come from? Neil had said he'd found it in the woods, but was he telling the truth? What reason would he have to lie?

Max's fidgeting grew louder the more he pondered about the doll. If Neil wasn't lying, then who made the doll? How old was it? Why was it in the woods? And why did it look so much like Max?

"Max!" David said forcefully, staring at him with a forced grin. His tone jerked Max out of his reverie, and Max stared at David. "You seem antsy," David said, gesturing to Max's still-tapping fingers with an annoyed flick of his wrist. "How about you go do something else?" Max shrugged in response, still sitting on the bench, still tapping.

David's smile dropped suddenly, and his tone turned colder. "I mean it Max. I don't care what you do; this is a big camp! Go count all the windows, all the doors, every pine tree you see, anything that's blue, all the tents just—" he sighed, exasperated. "Just let me work!"

After his outburst, David turned back to his clipboard. Max slid off the bench, feeling dejected. It wasn't like he'd expected much from the camp, but this was just like being at home: nobody listened to him, everyone yelled at him, and he didn't know what to do with himself.

He sighed, heading towards his tent. David had said it just to get him to leave, but Max didn't have anything better to do than trek around camp counting things. He dipped into his tent and grabbed his messenger bag, making sure his pen and paper were inside.

He flipped the notepad open and started wandering around camp, jotting down everything he saw that fit the things David had mentioned - a door here, a window there, a blue flag.

Max had run into the camp's Quartermaster while counting the windows on what he assumed was the Quartermaster's cabin. The whole place smelled funny, and Max had been just about ready to walk away when the Quartermaster had rounded the corner. The old man had looked at Max with wild eyes and yelled, "You been followin' me boy? Tryna steal my secrets?!" He'd then chased Max away from the cabin, screaming something about a squirrel circus and how Max wasn't allowed to see the show yet.

Max had ran back over to the tent area after that, which was where he'd stopped to note down the number of windows he'd counted on the quartermaster's cabin before he was chased off (there were three).

Max looked around, catching his breath. There were nine tents in the circle, Max noted, two of which had something blue on them. Max jotted it down and looked over what he'd written so far. The Mess Hall had two doors and four windows; the counselor's building had one door and two windows. He'd seen five various blue things and more pine trees than he could count, but he was estimating seventy. Deciding to continue his search, Max wandered towards the lake.

"One giant, blue lake," he muttered standing on the pier. He noted it down on his paper and spun around, saying, "No windows, no doors, no tents here." He turned away from the lake and ambled towards the forest, clicking his pen. He stopped and counted the trees around him - thirty four pine trees - then continued walking along the edge of the woods. Once he could no longer see the camp, he stopped and spun in a circle.

"At least 50 more fucking pine trees," he groaned. He looked down at his pad of paper, then squinted at his surroundings. Satisfied, he looked back down and started to write.

"No more windows, no more tents, no more blue things, and no more doors," he said, finishing the final tally with a flourish. He stuffed the paper back into his pocket, bumping into the doll. He snagged it out and looked at it for a moment before shaking his head and holding it at his side.

Turning to head back to camp, he saw a glimmer of something blue in the woods. He glanced towards camp, but decided he was in no hurry to get back to being yelled at. Instead, he marched into the woods, twigs snapping under his sneakers.

As he drew closer, it became clear that the blue he had seen had been a ratty old flag on top of a run down shed. It had probably been used for something at camp once - a boat shed, maybe a tool shed? - but had fallen into disrepair.

"Huh," he said. "Well, add one more blue thing to the list," Max said, setting the doll on a tree stump next to him. He grabbed his pen and paper from his front pocket and made a quick mark on the page. He reached out to pick up the doll as he turned to walk away, but his hand came back empty. There was nothing on the stump, and Max was sure that's where he'd left the doll. It made him uneasy, but he began to look around. 

He looked around the base of the stump where he thought he'd left it, thinking it might have fallen off, but there was nothing there. Confused, Max glanced around. He could see the circle of tents through the trees, but he didn't see the doll anywhere. "Come on, little me," he said, "where are you hiding?" Max walked around to the other side of the small shed, eyes scanning the ground, and - _there_. Lying on the dirt was the doll, it's body half concealed by a patch of brush against the old wooden building.

Max leaned down to grab the doll, his hand brushing against something cool as he scooped it up. With an unsettled look at the doll, he stuffed in unceremoniously back into his pocket and squatted down to see what he'd felt.

Pushing the brush aside, Max say a what looked like a tiny doorknob. After another moment of shifting leaves and debris out of the way, Max had uncovered a tiny door in the side of the shed, just big enough for him to crawl through.

"What the fuck is this?" he said, reaching for the handle. He gave it a sharp yank, but it wouldn't give. There was a rusted keyhole underneath the tiny knob; he figured it must be locked. Max put his eye up to the hole and peered inside, but it was too dark to see anything. _How weird,_  Max thought, brushing the dirt off his jeans. He was starting to feel a bit unsettled by the dilapidated shed and how the doll had seemed to move on its own, so he turned and dashed out of the forest.

As he ran back to camp, the doll felt like a weight in his pocket. Max couldn't help but wonder what was in that shed - as creepy as the doll was, it was kind of cool, and it had seemed almost as if it wanted him to look in the shed.

Max shook his head at the thought. _The doll didn't want anything_ , he reminded himself. _It was just a doll._

Even so, he needed to know what was in that shed. It wasn't like there was much else exciting going on at camp, anyways, so why not? Max decided the best thing to do would be ask the counselors for the key; it didn't seem like they cared what he did, so Max figured they'd probably give it to him.

He walked towards the counselor's building and knocked on the door. It was almost like deja vu: an angry looking Gwen pulled the door open and glared down at him, this time with a face mask on and a magazine in her hand.

"What do you want, Max?" she said, annoyance clear in her tone.

"I was in the woods and there was this shed," Max explained, "but the door was locked. I want the fucking key so I can—"

Gwen rolled her eyes and slammed the door closed. "I don't think so, Max! Way too much work. Go play scientist with Neil or something," she yelled from inside.

Max frowned, then reached up and pounded on the door again.

"Go _away_ , Max!" came Gwen's muffled reply from inside.

Max ignored her and kept knocking, using both hands to pummel the door. Both his fists were still in the air when the door swung open and he nearly punched Gwen in the stomach.

She was staring down at him, seething. "So you want some stupid key?" she asked. Max nodded. "And will you leave me alone if I get it for you?" Max nodded again. "Then _fine_ ," Gwen said. "Let me go get the key's from the Quartermaster, then we'll unlock it - and you'll leave me alone. Deal?"

"Deal."

Max stuck out his hand and Gwen shook it. "I'll be right back," she said, walking towards the Quartermaster's cabin. "Don't touch anything!" she yelled over her shoulder.

It didn't take long for her to come back with a ring of key's jingling in her hands. Max stood up from where he'd been sitting on the steps and said, "About fucking time, Gwen. I was about ready to go and destroy all your shit for kicks."

She gave an annoyed sigh and shook the keys. "Do you want that shed opened or not?" she asked. Max nodded, and she gestured for him to lead the way. They walked to the shed in silence, the keys jangling around on the ring. When the arrived at the shed, Max kneeled down and pulled the brush back to show Gwen the door. She cocked an eyebrow - "Little small, isn't it?" - before beginning to flip through the keys.

Eventually, she stopped and held up a black key. The end looked like a button, and she held it out for Max to see. "It's the only one that isn't labeled. If this doesn't work," she added, "that's not my fault. You still leave me alone, got it?" Max nodded. "Yeah whatever, just open the fucking door," he said.

She rolled her eyes and knelt down, sticking the black key in the keyhole. She gave it a twist, but nothing happened. And then suddenly, the lock gave way, and Max heard the glorious _click_  of the door being unlocked as Gwen turned the key.

"Lemme look!" Max yelled, pushing Gwen out of the way. He excitedly yanked open the door to reveal....

"A brick wall?" he asked. "But it doesn't make any sense!" He turned to Gwen. "Why the hell would there be a brick wall? What was this thing used for?"

She held up one hand, signaling for him to be quiet. "I don't know!" she exclaimed. "Look, I opened the fucking door, now leave me alone! We had a deal, Max!"

With one last shake of the key ring, Gwen spun on her heel and stalked away, leaving Max to stare at the bricks in front of him. He scowled at the red wall. "That's just fucking stupid," he said to himself as he stood up. "Why the hell would it be bricked up?" He wanted to know, but it was true that Gwen had fulfilled her part of the deal, so Max knew to leave her alone. He ambled back towards camp; he was just in time for dinner.

Max stalked into the Mess Hall, grabbed a sandwich, and sat down in a huff next to Neil.

"Woah," Neil said, eying Max. "Who pissed in your Cheerios?"

Max scoffed. "Yeah, very funny! It's been a long day," he said. "This creepy doll of your has been doing weird shit all day, and the Quartermaster chased me halfway across camp earlier." Neil shook his head as they each began to eat their food. He swallowed, then said, "Yeah, that guy's a freak. He's always going on about his—"

"Jumping squirrel circus?" Max interrupted. "Yeah, I know. He screamed about it while he chased me with his hook."

"Yeah, that's it!" said Neil. "He's just an old drunk, talking about his weird fucking squirrels all the time," he added.

Max shrugged. They ate the rest of their meal in relative silence, and made only a bit of small talk for the rest of the night.

Max was deep in thought even as they walked back to their tent at the end of the night: what was that shed? Why was it bricked up? How had the doll gone from a tree stump to under the brush?

He mulled it over as he and Neil got ready for bed, kicking off their shoes and crawling under the covers. Neil turned off the lantern and said goodnight, but Max hardly heard him.

After a while of puzzling of the day's events, Max grew annoyed. "Ah, fuck it," he said quietly, pulling back his blankets and getting settled underneath them. He pulled off his hoodie and realized that the doll was still in the front pocket. He yanked the doll out and hung the hoodie on the edge of the cot, dying the doll.

"Goodnight, little me," he said softly, setting the doll down against the night stand as he had the night before. He realized he'd never asked Neil why he'd moved the doll that morning, but when he went to ask, Max realized that Neil was already sound asleep. Max shrugged - _it was probably nothing,_ he told himself as he burrowed under the blankets.

Even so, doubt and unease drifted around in Max's brain, and he double checked that the doll was still sitting against the nightstand before he drifted off to sleep.


	3. The Other World

Max tossed and turned in his blankets, his face screwed up with emotion. He was sleeping, but not well - his dreams were plagued by the shed in the woods.

In his dream, Max saw the old shed, the door slowly opening by some unseen hand. There was the brick wall - even in his dream, Max felt a twinge of annoyance at seeing it. This time though, something swirled at the middle of the wall, unfurling like a sheet of paper. As it curled and twisted around in his mind, Max saw that it was squirrels, four of them, twining around each other like a kaleidoscope. They unfurled out of the door, their tails all connected at the center. The paper-looking squirrels curled and unfolded towards him in a mesmerizing pattern.

They were pure, beautiful gold, and Max reached out his hand to touch one. He frowned in his sleep as he did. It didn't make sense: in the dream, the squirrels looked flat, but he felt something soft, something real. 

Max heard a noise in front of him and it shook him from the dream. His eyes flew open, and there was a squirrel sitting right on top of his stomach. 

"Ugh, what the hell!" he whispered, trying not to wake Neil. He fluttered his hands at it and glared as the squirrel jumped off of him and landed gracefully on the floor. It took a few jumps away from Max, turning back to look at him before scampering towards the flap of the tent. 

Just as Max thought the squirrel was going to leave, it turned back to look at him, as if to say, "come on, aren't you going to follow me?" Max rubbed his eyes, but the squirrel was still there, half out of the ten and half in, staring expectantly at him.

Maybe it was the weird dream he'd had, but Max found himself wanting to follow. 

"Ah, what the hell," Max said, sliding out of bed. "Not like there's anything better to do." He grabbed his hoodie from the edge of the bed and pulled it over his head, pausing to listen around him - not that he thought anyone would stop him, even if there was someone there. 

He listened intently, but there was no one. The night was quiet, the only sound Neil's slow, even breathing as he slept on the other side of the tent. 

Max cocked an eyebrow at the squirrel and followed it as it scampered out the tent. It leapt through the grass, moonlight glinting off of its fur. Max chased after it, nearly tripping over his sneakers, which he'd shoved onto his feet in a hurry. They zipped out of the circle of tents and down towards the lake, but instead of going right to the shore, the squirrel turned left into the trees.

Max was sprinting, trying his best to keep up as the squirrel bounded ahead. "What the hell am I doing?" he panted to himself. Even as he asked himself the question, he continued to speed up, crashing through the trees. The squirrel leapt forward, and suddenly, he was gone. 

Max stopped, breathing hard. "What the fuck?" he whispered. He'd almost lost the squirrel a few times, but he'd always seen a flick of it's tail or heard it moving ahead of him and been able to get back on track. This time though, Max saw nothing. His eyes hadn't quite adjusted to the darkness in the trees, and the crescent sliver of the moon barely illuminated the forest floor at all. Max scowled, annoyed, but decided that he'd already come so far, it would be stupid not to keep going. 

Treading softly so he could listen for the squirrel, Max took a few steps forward, then paused. Nothing. He took a few steps more, looking around, and — 

"Fuck!" Max exclaimed, tumbling backwards. He'd run straight into something in the dark, but what exactly it was, he wasn't sure. 

"Goddamnit," he said, rubbing his elbows where they'd smacked the ground. He dusted off his jeans and stood up, careful not to knock into anything else. There was still no sign of the squirrel, so Max put his hands out and took a tentative step forward to find what he'd run into. 

His ran his hands back and forth along the surface of whatever was in front of him. It felt like wood, old wood. 

Max pulled his hands back. "The shed?" he whispered to himself, confused. "This is fucking weird. First the dream about the squirrels and the shed, then I decide to follow some little furry asshole out into the woods in the middle of the night." He continued muttering to himself as he used his hand to guide him around to the other side of the shed. "Now it took me to the same place I dreamt about! Oh, and I'm sure if I open the door, I'll see some trippy paper squirrels," he laughed to himself, rolling his eyes.

He'd made it around to the other side of the shed while he was talking to himself. Max crouched down on the ground, running his hands along the wall of the shed. He knew there was a brick wall behind the door, but still, it was all too coincidental not to at least open it. 

"And besides," Max said aloud, "I'm already all the way out here. Might as well go through with it." He ran his fingers along the shed, pushing the brush aside. It took a few minutes, but soon he felt the cool texture of the door handle. 

 Shoving the bushes down, Max kneeled in front of the door. "Here's to hoping Gwen didn't lock it," he muttered, and yanked on the handle. 

 "Holy shit," Max said, eyes wide.

Gwen hadn't locked the door, but instead of the brick wall that had been there earlier, a long tunnel stretched out in front of Max. It was glowing and looking like it was made of fabric, folds of purple and blue illuminating Max's face. He rubbed his eyes, but it was still there, unexplainable and beautiful. 

With a quick look over his shoulder, Max shrugged. "Ah, what the hell," he said, ducking his head into the doorway. "Not like I have anything better to do."

He put his forearms on the ground and began to crawl into the tunnel. He had been right; the walls were made of some kind of fabric, and the whole tunnel swayed slightly as Max shuffled through it. The door was growing farther and farther away each time Max looked back at it, and eventually he stopped looking back. 

Inside the tunnel, the walls glowed even brighter than they had seemed to from the outside. The whole thing was beautiful in shades of blue and purple, but Max was too in awe to notice much. "I've gotta be fucking dreaming," he said, still crawling. "This is a weird dream, even for me," he added, frowning. 

Still, Max continued to crawl. Before long, he could see a spot where the blue and purple glow ended, and he assumed it was the end of the tunnel. A few minutes later, he'd reached it. Putting his hands out in front of him, he felt wood beneath his fingers, and saw what might've been a keyhole. 

Max pushed against the door, but it didn't budge. He turned slamming his shoulder into it, but still nothing. 

"Oh, come on!" he yelled, pulling back to try again. He jerked forward, his shoulder slamming into the door, and it exploded open. 

 Max's tumbled forward as the door swung open, falling on the ground. It was dark around him, only the same moonlight sifting through the trees. He crawled the rest of the way out of the door and looked around, but all he could make out were some indistinct trees. 

"Alright, not what the fuck is this?" Max said, turning around. The little door was still open and the tunnel was glowing inside, but it was exactly the same door he'd gone through. The shed was still there, and so was the brush - it was as if he'd come out exactly where he went in. 

"This is bullshit!" Max exclaimed. "I can't believe after all that, I'm right back where I — hang on." He frowned, examining the shed again. It was the same shed, to be sure, but something was _different_. Max couldn't put his finger on it until he touched the wall: it was smooth. The whole shed was smooth and pristinely painted, nothing like the dilapidated old thing he'd crawled through in the first place. 

Max's surprise quickly faded, and he turned away from the shed with a sigh. "Alright, that's it. Dream over. I'm going back to the tent," he said, sticking out his hands in front of him. He managed to navigate through the trees, the moonlight seemingly brighter than it had been on the way into the woods. He glanced up, then did a double take. 

"I could've sworn it was a crescent moon when I left," he mumbled, stepping out of the  trees. 

 There was a bright, full moon hanging in the sky, and by its light he could see the lake and the dock - except, it _wasn't_  the lake and the dock.

Max walked towards the shore, eyebrows drawn together. The pier was clean and newly painted, and a shiny rowboat bobbed up and down in the water. Max leaned over the edge of the dock, and his own reflection stared back; the water was crystal clear and smooth as glass, unlike the _real_  Lake Lilac, which had murky green water and was probably fifty percent sludge. 

"Weird," Max said, standing upright. He turned and walked back down the pier, heading towards the tents. He picked up the pace slightly, a strange feeling settling over him.

The dream world was like a mirror image of the real Camp Campbell. Too similar to really feel like a dream, but too subtly better to be reality. It made Max uncomfortable. 

He turn the bend into the clearing where the tents were and stopped, his eyes widening. 

In the middle of the tents back at camp, there was a small ring of stones meant to be used as a place for campfires. As far as Max could tell, it hadn't been used in ages, but now there was a blazing fire in the exact same spot. 

Max could see the silhouette of someone standing by the fire. It looked like David; Max couldn't see what he was doing, but he could see the outline his hair and that was enough. Max sped up towards him - the whole camp just felt too off, and he was glad to see a familiar face, even if he knew he was either dreaming or imagining things. 

As he approached, he could hear David humming to himself. Max saw that he was cooking something over the fire, gently moving the pan over the flames. 

Max stopped right behind right behind David, who was oblivious to his presence. "David?" Max asked quietly. "What're you doing out here in the middle of the night?" David stopped moving, then turned around slowly, grinning at Max. 

"Why Max! You're just in time for supper!" he said.

Max took a step back. Whoever this was, it wasn't David. The man who looked like David had bright, white blond hair, and he didn't have an eyepatch - but that wasn't what Max noticed first. 

"You're not David," Max said slowly, taking another step backwards. " _My_ David doesn't have b-b..." Max trailed off, pointing at the man. Where his eyes should have been, there were, instead, two bright blue buttons. 

"He doesn't have b-b-buttons?" the man finished, laughing. "Well of course I'm not David! I'm the _other_  David! You can call me Daniel," he said smiling. He turned back to his pan, as if that had cleared everything up. Max stood transfixed behind him, unsure what to do. 

"Go tell other Gwen that supper's ready," Daniel said without turning around. Max didn't move, just stared unblinking at Daniel's back. He turned around and smiled. "Well, go on! She's in the counselor's building!" He went back to his cooking and began humming to himself again, and Max found his feet carrying him towards the building without really deciding he was going to go. 

Like everything else, the counselor's building was pristine and beautifully painted. Lights glowed inside, and Max knocked gently on the door. It creaked open at the touch, and Max stepped inside. 

"Hello?" he asked, looking around cautiously. 

"Hello, Max!" came a voice from the next room. Max walked into the doorway and saw Gwen - _or Other Gwen,_  he thought to himself - standing in front of a music stand. Like Daniel, she was an exact clone of Gwen, but with bright white blond hair and blue button eyes. 

She smiled at Max in a very un-Gwenlike way and gestured to the violin in her hands. "Wanna hear my new song?" she asked, still grinning.

Max shook his head. "My Gwen can't play violin, I don't think," he muttered. The other Gwen just giggled. 

"I couldn't either, until Daniel showed me how. But with this," she gestured to the instrument in her hands, "there's no need to _play_  violin. This violin plays me!" 

Two long, robotic arms sprung forward from the violin, and Other Gwen out one hand into the gloves on each arm. The machine pulled her arms jerkily up to a playing position, and she winked at Max before she started to play. 

_Making up a song about Max!_

_He's a peach, he's a doll,_

_and he's so relaxed!_

_He's as cute as a button,_

_in the eyes of everyone_

_who's ever laid their eyes_

_on you, Max!_

 The arms spun her in a circle as they played and she sang smiling all the while. Max almost cracked a smile - he couldn't help it. _Who cares if she's weird,_ he thought.   _I'd take this Gwen over the one who yelled at me any day._  She kept singing as he watched the machinery control her arms and play the tune to accompany her. 

_When he comes around exploring,_

_David and I will never ever make it boring!_

_Our eyes will be on you, Max!_

 The song ended with a flourish of notes, and Max clapped awkwardly as the robotic hands had the Other Gwen take a bow, and then disappeared back to wherever they'd come from. 

Max shuffled back a few steps, his discomfort returning. "Well," Max said, "that was....anyways, sorry, but he said to tell you that food was ready." 

Other Gwen looked pleased. "Mmm, can't wait!" She set down the violin and walked past Max out of the room. He turned and followed her, but instead of going back out to the fire, she turned down a hallway and waited outside a set of double doors for Max to catch up. "Here we are," she said, opening the door for him.

They stepped into the room, and Max was immediately engulfed by the delicious smells coming from the food on the table. He closed his eyes and breathed in deep - the camp food wasn't bad, but it wasn't anything like _this_  

When he opened his eyes, Daniel was standing next to the chair at the head of the table. He pulled it out and gestured for Max to sit down, so Max walked over and hopped onto the chair. Daniel pushed the chair in and sat down on Max's left, while other Gwen sat on his right. 

There was an empty plate it front of him, so Max grabbed it and loaded it up with a little bit of everything; the table was full of at least a dozen different, delicious looking foods. Max grabbed some chicken, a spoonful of mashed potatoes, an eat of corn, a fresh roll, and some peas. Daniel and Other Gwen just watched him, smiling gently. 

He bit into the chicken and was surprised how real it tasted. "Oh, this is so good!" he exclaimed, taking another bite. 

Daniel just smiled wider. "Hungry, aren't you? I'm glad you like it." 

Max nodded stuffing a spoon full of mashed potatoes in his mouth. "You don't have any gravy, do you?" he asked hopefully.

"Well, here comes the gravy train!" Other Gwen said. "Choo, choo!"

A small train was making its way along a set of tracks Max hadn't even noticed on the table, little puffs of smoke coming out from the top. When it reached his plate, it stopped, topping the saucer of gravy forwards and pouring just enough gravy onto Max's plate. Max stared as it pulled away.

It seemed to good to be true. Max shook his head. _So what if it is?_  he reasoned. _It's not like my real life is anything great. Why not enjoy myself while I'm here?_

Satisfied, he popped another spoonful of potatoes, this time with gravy, into his mouth. Daniel watched him eat for a few minutes, his button eyes glinting. "Do you need anything else Max? Another roll? More chicken?" he asked, gesturing around the table. 

Max paused, then said, "Got anything to drink? I'm really thirsty."

Other Gwen stood up. "Have any requests?"

Max considered it, then said, "How about a mango milkshake?" 

 Other Gwen nodded, then looked up. Descending from the ceiling was a chandelier, but where the candles would have been were various containers. Each one had a spout, and Other Gwen reached up and filled Max's glass with something bright orange. She handed it back to him. "One mango milkshake!" she said. "Just for you," she added.

Max grabbed it and tipped it back. It was delicious, perfectly sweet and tart. Feeling a brain freeze, Max went to set the glass down.

He slowly put it on the table, which was now nearly empty. All the food was gone, having been replaced by a blue, circular cake in front of Max. It had a ring of candles around the outside, and, as Max stared at it, they began to flicker to life. As their flames flickered, words suddenly appeared on the cake as well, frosted by an invisible hand:

"Welcome Home!"

Max looked up. Other Gwen and Daniel were both staring at him - _smiling, of course, when weren't they?_  Max thought. 

"Home?" Max asked, gesturing to the cake. He looked back and forth between the two of them, and Daniel broke the short silence. 

"We've been waiting for you, Max," he said, nodding. 

"For me?" Max repeated, incredulous. 

Other Gwen smiled. "It just hasn't been the same without you, Max!"

"Hasn't been the same...what exactly is this place?" Max demanded. "Who are you?"

"This is your _other_  world, Max, and we're your other counselors. Like I said," Daniel answered brightly, "I'm Daniel, and that's Jen!" 

 Other Gwen - Jen - waved. Max felt his unease returning as he looked back at David's button eyes. "I didn't know I had other counselor's," he said slowly. "Or other _anything_." 

 Daniel laughed. "Of course you do, kiddo! Everyone does," he added. 

"Really?" Max asked.

"Uh-huh," Daniel replied. "And as soon as you're through eating," he continued, motioning to the cake, "I was thinking we could play a game!" 

Max blinked. "A...game?" he asked. "Like hide and seek?"

Daniel clapped his hands together. "Perfect!" he said. "Hide and seek in the rain," he added, a mischievous glint in his button eyes. 

Max frowned. It hadn't been raining before, had it? "What rain?" he asked.

As if on cue, a loud clap of thunder echoed outside, and Max could hear the rain splattering against the windowpanes. "What about the mud?" Max said, recalling how Gwen had made him scrape the mud off the floor after he'd tracked it into the Mess Hall earlier. 

This time, Jen answered. "We love mud," she laughed. "Mud facials, mud baths, mud pies!"

Daniel nodded. "And it's great for poison ivy!" He eyed Max's hands. 

Max drew his arms back and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "How'd you know I...? Never mind," he said, pushing away from the table. He hopped out of his chair and stood up, looking at the two _other_ counselor's. "Look, I'd love to stay, but I should probably get back before my other David freaks out," Max muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.

Daniel tipped his head to the side, his neck cracking. "But _I'm_ your other David, Max!"

Max took a step away from Daniel. "I - I know, I just meant, my _other_ other David. You know," he added nervously, "David number one?" 

Daniel just stared at him.

Max took another instinctive step back. "I really think I should get to bed," he said, hoping they would let him leave. 

"Oh, of course, Max!" Jen said, standing up from her chair. "It's all made up."

Max flinched away from her, trying to think of a way to get away from them. "But...."

Daniel had gotten up too, and he put a hand on Max's shoulder. "Come along, sleepyhead," he said, guiding Max out the front door. 

Max yawned as the trekked back to the tents in silence. His mind would've been going a mile a minute, but he really _was_ exhausted. 

Jen held the flap open and Daniel ducked into Max's tent, Max following close behind. 

"Woah," he said, stepping inside. 

It was like his real tent, sort of, but better. The bed was a real bed, not a cot. There was a TV and a bookshelf, and Max's teddy bear was sitting on the bed. 

"What's shakin' Max?" it said, raising one fluffy arm. 

Max couldn't believe his eyes. Above his bed, hanging from the top of the tent, was a strand of star shaped lights. The whole room was awash in their light blue glow, and it was only then that Max noticed the other side of the tent. 

It was still Neil's, clearly, but instead of looking like a deranged ten year old' attempts at science, it looked more like the sci-fi lair in every movie Max had ever scene. Someone - Neil, Max assumed - was asleep in the bed, and didn't stir despite all the noise.

"Do you like it?" Daniel asked as Max kicked off his shoes and climbed into bed. Max nodded, yawning again. His eyes fluttered closed, but then he felt someone grab his hands.

He opened his eyes and saw Daniel looming over him, smiling. There was a jar of something in his hands. 

"Oh, right," Max said blearily. "The mud. Right."

David smeared some on each of Max's palms gently as Max's eyes began to flutter. _This bed is much more comfortable than the cot,_ Max thought.

As Max's eyes drifted closed, the last thing he saw was Jen and Daniel standing by his bed, smiling. He could tell from the sudden darkness and the soft  _click_ that broke the tent's silence that one of them had turned off the lantern.

Max snuggled into the soft blankets, and his breathing slowed and evened out. As he fell asleep, he heard Jen and Daniel say something in unison in sweet, singsong voices. By the time his brain processed what it was they had said, he was already sound asleep.

"See you soon." 


End file.
